A sentencing judge who imposes imprisonment with a proportionately short non-parole period on the assumption that the offender will be released on parole and supervised breaches s 5(2AA) of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). Such an error necessarily vitiates the judge's consideration of the parsimony principle under s 5(4C), because the comparison between imprisonment and a community correction order is distorted by the assumption of parole release. Where an offender's mental illness contributed to offending but the offender had prior knowledge of the risks of ceasing medication, Verdins principles 1-4 apply with reduced force but are not eliminated.
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